Sweden's Fraying Tolerance

Teitelbaum, Benjamin R, International New York Times

The rise of a small anti-immigration party is challenging the
nation's pride in its reputation for civilized politics.

"I'm ashamed of my country," a member of Sweden's Liberal
People's Party told reporters in a shivering voice during a
broadcast on Sweden's TV4 on Sunday, as she reacted to the results
of national elections. After eight years in power, her party's
center-right bloc had been swept out in favor of a left-wing
coalition built around the Social Democrats. But her party's loss
and the power shift from right to left were not what caused her
outrage. It was a rise in support for a far-right party that is both
undermining Sweden's reputation for tolerance and testing its
commitment to democratic process.

The nationalist, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats had unexpectedly
earned 13 percent of the vote, leaving many Swedes wondering if they
could still think of themselves as invulnerable to the social
tensions afflicting the rest of Europe.

The overall results left the winning left-wing coalition short of
seats needed to build a majority government. As a result, the
traditional left and right blocs have a difficult choice: cooperate
with each other to pass bills, or face the politically treacherous
prospect of aligning with the nationalist kingmakers. Cooperation on
centrist-leaning policies seems the likeliest outcome, since the
center-right parties have said they want nothing to do with the
Sweden Democrats.

But the outcome is still a nightmare for a vast majority of
Swedes, who see their cherished reputation for civilized politics
challenged by the nativism of the far right and an increasing
tendency on the far left to fight back with vicious personal attacks
and a measure of violence.

The Sweden Democrats, who first entered Parliament in 2010,
remain a small party compared with nationalist parties in France,
Hungary and Austria. But their very emergence undermines Sweden's
cherished identity as a global beacon of tolerance and social
progressivism that have kept the far right at bay. Desperate to
maintain their society's openness and reputation, a broad field of
teachers, public intellectuals, journalists, activists and
politicians mobilized against the party during the election
campaign. While many of these efforts were courageous and civil,
others stooped to pseudo-intellectual and anti-democratic attacks,
as well as violence; Swedes now face the challenge of upholding
liberal democratic standards while dealing with a reviled political
minority. While other anti-immigrant parties in Western Europe trace
their roots to longstanding right-wing populist movements, the
Sweden Democrats emerged only in the 1980s, from neo-Nazi activist
groups that initially operated in tandem with a fierce domestic
skinhead subculture. More recently, the party has established dress
codes, tempered its ideology and undergone two turnovers in
leadership. But it still attracts Swedes who have anti-Semitic and
racist sympathies, even though a more moderate and increasingly
vigilant party establishment threatens to expel them. In short,
party reform has moved slowly, and the group's persistent
association with extremism has prevented it from realizing its
potential.

Indeed, there is fodder on which it can grow. A nationwide
opinion poll conducted last May suggests that 44 percent of Swedes
want cuts in immigration, a sentiment most likely traceable to
concerns that the influx of foreigners will overwhelm their welfare
system. …

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